


Crown Of Gold, Crown of Thistles

by VenusTheMarvelTurtle



Category: Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, The Lion Guard (TV), The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slight Canon Divergence, Teenage Drama, Then back to enemies, this needs a ship name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-05-23 08:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6111161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenusTheMarvelTurtle/pseuds/VenusTheMarvelTurtle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reared and protected in the Pride Lands, Kion thought he knew everything about his great uncle and what he attempted to do to Simba's kingdom. That Scar had been evil was a fact, an indisputable observation, and his legacy was a cautionary horror story Kion knew by heart, one of the many his father used to keep his willful son in line.</p><p>The stories never prepared him for everything that Scar left behind, however. A brief glance into the complicated tale of the Golden Son, and the forgotten Dark Prince.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (I'm shocked I'm the first one to do this! Seriously, no one else thought that Kion and Kovu would make an amazing, angsty, forbidden couple?  
> Anyway, this idea has been nibbling at my brain forever and I just had to get it down. Canon divergence, not much though. Kovu's a bit darker than perhaps canon allowed him to be. Nothing serious or OOC, just a little more bitter at his lot in life. Also, not Kiara/Kovu centered.)

Kion's boogeyman was also his Uncle.

Great uncle, actually. In Kion's earliest memories, flickers of time when he huddled cozily into his mother's warm, soft underbelly, nuzzling his sister out of the way for the fattest tete and milk rights, he recalled nursing and dozing to the timbre of Simba's rumbling voice, surrounding his then barely old enough to understand children with the history of the place they'd one day rule, if the Great Kings saw fit.

Still, even after his eyes opened all the way and Pride Rock was filled with the joyful sounds of young cubs at play, the stories were never quite whole. There were holes. At bedtime, while Kiara begged to hear over and over again the mushy story of how Simba and Nala fell in love, Kion preferred the tale of how his big, strong dad had come into his own and won the Kingdom.

What he was never clear on was exactly  _what_ his father had saved the Pridelands from. Whenever he asked, the king and queen would share a quick glance, and the subject would be changed, or Simba would distract him with another retelling of Uncle Timon and Uncle Puumba dancing and singing to distract the hyenas. 

They shared  _that look_ a lot. Like on Kion and Kiara's two month name day, when the entire pridelands turned out to celebrate the milestone and thank the Kings that both royal heirs had survived early cubhood.

An elderly lioness from the highland pride that was old enough to remember Kion's grandfather had made the trip to the savannah. After greeting his parents, she'd been presented with the two cubs and immediately started cooing and gushing, something that Kion hated and Kiara loved.

"Wonderful," she stuttered, grinning at them with broken brown teeth and a scarred, sagging face. "Wonderful, wonderful, yes yes. They'll be beautiful, beautiful and handsome. Such pretty pelts, such rich brown eyes, and not a hint of green anywhere..."

Kion remembered feeling his father flinch and stiffen behind him, and his mother's glowing smile became fixed and strained, but the old lioness wasn't done.

"We've finally bred out those horrible genes, yes indeed. This one-" she turned her proud gaze on Kion. "Yes, he'll be strong. No hunched back, no beady stare...yes, yes. I do believe old Taka was the last of the worst."

She wobbled away. Later, when Kion asked Simba what she meant, who was Taka, why he'd called the event off early, he got no answer. Kion watched from the cradle of Nala's forelegs as Simba strode out of the main cave and into the chilly night, and didn't return until morning.

* * *

 

His parents spared him as long as they could, until the day that Kion let his adventurous mischief get the better of him. While Simba was engaged in some boring grown up lion thing with Zazu, Kion left Kiara and her twittering friends and decided to explore all of Pride Rock before lunch, the areas his father never took him.

Away from the touch of the sun, Pride rock was a different world. Timon found him in the cave farthest from the light, facing away from the rest of the huge structure. The stone was cold and damp, clogged with foul black moss and fungus, with an old musty scent that made his tongue curl.

"Whatcha doing down here, little man?" Timon asked nervously. Kion noticed how the meerkat lingered at the mouth of the alcove, fidgeting and constantly glancing skyward for sunlight that wasn't there.

"Exploring, Uncle 'mon." Kion told him brightly, pausing when the cavern reflected his own voice back at him in a twisted, grating echo. 

"Heh heh..." Timon's chuckle came back empty and evil, bouncing off the walls. "You really shouldn't be down here, especially not alone. You might run into the ghost."

"Ghost?" Kion parroted, warily (but not scared, never scared. He wasn't a scaredy cat like Kiara. He was strong and brave, like his dad).

Timon grinned slyly. 

"Yeah, Scar's ghost? Your uncle? He used to live down here." Timon explained, grabbing himself dramatically by the elbows and looking around. "In this very cave... he died before you were born. Right outside there... And they say he wanders Pride Rock at night, and eats naughty cubs that stray away from their mamas."

Kion's eyes went wide, and he jumped when Timon started sputtering and hooting with laughter. Kion lingered behind as he left, still chortling.

Timon was just messing with him. He didn't believe in ghosts- spirits, sure, like the great kings- and even if he did, he wasn't afraid of them. 

With that thought in mind, he drew himself up to his full height and pranced as regally as he could out of the cavern.

He pretended that his hackles didn't raise and his fur didn't stand on end when he brushed against the chilly stone on the way out, sending a cold, nauseous shiver down his spine.

Back in the light, Kion put all thoughts of ghosts and dead uncles out of his mind... Until Kiara went and chased a butterfly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: This one's kind of a rewrite of the first meeting scene between Kovu and Kiara. R&R!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my version, Kovu is Scar's actual son. I mean come on, the child's name means "Scar" in Swahili, he looks EXACTLY like him, and Zira was totally obsessed with Scar.
> 
> Nice try, Disney. Please guys, I don't want any flack about it. Believe what you want to believe.
> 
> Also, no singing here XD.

Kiara was actually born first.

Looking at them, no one would ever guess that Kion was the youngest sibling. But to watch them interact it became obvious. They were equally stubborn, hot headed, leap first ask questions later kind of cubs. But Kiara was the smaller one, the girl, and Simba always told him that it was his duty as a brother to watch over her.

Whatever Kiara did, wherever Kiara went, Kion was there, right behind her. So when Kiara decided to ditch their babysitters for the day, there was Kion.

"If you're too scared, I'll just go without you."

"Don't be a jerk, Kiara. I'm coming."

They'd both been afraid, and they both knew it, but then Kiara started the game over the butterfly, and they forgot their fears even as they wandered further and further away from home.

"The mighty hunter tracks her prey..."

"Mighty hunter my  _rump."_

"Oh yeah? Then watch-"

"Kiara!"

"- _this!"_

It was Kiara that jumped, Kiara that misjudged the distance, Kiara that tumbled straight over the border into the Outlands, and Kiara that bowled straight into him, but it was Kion that leapt in between the strange cub and his sister when the other snarled at Kiara and threatened her, growling in his own right.

He wasn't particularly scary, the other cub. He was smaller than them, scrawnier, like he hadn't had a good meal in days. There was mud on his nose and caked into his pelt, but Kion couldn't stop staring long enough to laugh. This cub was strange, new, _different_ , dark from his ears to his toes, with the brightest green eyes Kion had ever seen. 

"What are you doing here,  _Pridelanders?"_  The cub spat the word out like a curse, full of hatred, making them both jump. Kiara backpedalled behind her brother when he advanced, stuttering and sputtering and, for once in her life, completely speechless.

They knew Outsiders existed, of course. Zazu complained about them every day, and their father often left to chase patrols of foreign lions away from the Pridelands. According to the little hornbill, Outsiders were vicious, murderous, untrustworthy and awful.

But this cub didn't look like a killer to Kion.

"Well? What are you looking at?" It was obvious the other cub was trying to make himself look bigger than what he was, bristled and puffed up like an angry flamingo. His teeth were bared and his claws were unsheathed. He looked near ready to pounce, but Kion still felt more shocked and uneasy than afraid.

"M-mud," Kion blurted, letting the first thing that jumped to the front of his mind tumble out of his mouth. The cub screeched to a halt, blinking, thrown off by that random statement as much as they were.

"H-huh?"

"Mud," Kion rambled. "Mud, y-you've got mud, on your nose, right there..."

Behind him, Kiara gave a choked, nervous little giggle that died the minute the cub got his wits back and snarled at them again, the tiny tuft of black hair on his tail lashing behind him in anger. He lifted a paw and swatted at his muzzle to clean it, glaring sourly.

"Shut up!"

"You can't talk to a Prince like that!" Kiara piped up shrilly, suddenly deciding to be brave. 

"I can talk to anybody however I want. You're not a Prince." the other cub declared, starting to circle them like hunters circled injured gazelles. As one, Kion and Kiara matched his steps, turning and twisting, never letting him get behind them.

Eventually, with a final, complicated leap that failed to position him at their backs, he stopped, flustered and annoyed. "What are you doing?" he snapped, scrunching up his still dusty nose at them.

Kion planted his paws in the grey, parched ground and threw out his chest. "Our father says never turn your back on an _Outsider_." He tried to inject the same amount of disdain into the word that the other cub had.

The darker male's green, _green_ eyes glittered at that, and a cruel sneer spread over his muzzle. "Aw. You always do what  _daddy_  says?"

Kion's hackles rose, and a growl of his own ripped out of his throat. That struck a nerve, and he knew the other cub saw. "No!"

"Bet ya do," the other cub snickered. "Bet you're just Daddy's Little _Girls_!"

Kion bounded forward, right into the other cub's face, trembling with anger. Zazu was right. Outlanders were _terrible._ "You'd better take that back." he warned, the skin under his fur almost as red as the hair sprouting from his forelock.

"Kion..." Kiara hissed, leaning heavily on his flank.

Much to his surprise, the smaller cub didn't shrink back from Kion's larger bulk. "Make me, Pridelander." he challenged, squaring his shoulders.

"Kion, don't!" Kiara whined, butting him aside. Kion shoved her away, but the other cub was already turning, flicking his tail with an indignant snort and prancing onto a stone in the middle of a half dry watering hole. 

"An Outsider doesn't need anybody." he told them airily over his shoulder, settling down with pompous finality. "I take care of my _self_."

Kion scowled and stared daggers in his direction while Kiara cooed and awed at his attitude. Sharp, bitter brambles of irritation pricked at his insides and made him feel queasy. Everything about this cub annoyed him, and yet for some reason, he felt like he needed to be better than him. It was even worse that Kiara was swooning over him...but Kiara swooned over everything.

"That's not so impressive." Kion muttered, padding glumly after his sister. "I bet you're lying."

"Oh yeah? Well-" The other cub spun around and started to reply, and Kion watched in rapidly growing confusion as the expression on his face morphed from snootiness to shock to terror. Almost in slow motion his eyes grew huge and round, his mouth fell open, and all the pride and color drained from his face. Kion noticed the shadow that had risen up behind him in the same instant his scream rent the air, and he spun around in time to see a flash of gleaming, bone white teeth and a dripping dark maw looming over him. 

Thus started a keep away game for their lives- darting and jumping within inches of those long incisors. At one point, amidst the frothing foam and flying scales, Kion saw the other cub frozen and pinned against the trunk of a scraggly tree, too afraid to even yell as a croc descended on him. 

Kion didn't remember leaping, didn't remember even thinking about doing it, didn't think about why or how or how stupid it was- all he knew was that he was airborne before finding himself perched on the snout of a crocodile, forcing those teeth closed a hairsbreadth away from the other cub's whiskers.

"Move it!" he yelped, locking eyes with the frightened cub. Time seemed to slow down. There was one single moment of clarity and understanding between them that lasted a lifetime. All too soon and a million years later, it ended and they were all wet but safe on the opposite bank, panting for air and skaking with residual trembles.

"Ha! Ha ha ha!" Kion and the other cub watched Kiara dance and preen giddily, then turned to each other. Kion flushed, feeling bashful and foolish after what they'd just been through. They shuffled their paws and sniffled, glancing down and around at anything and everything.

"Wow...y-you were really brave," the darker cub said quietly, finally squinting up at him. All of his cocky bravado was gone. Kion thought he looked much better when he wasn't trying to be mean. "You saved me."

"You too." Kion whispered. "I mean... yeah. It was...forget about it, okay?"

The cub stared at him for a few more seconds, then shook himself and straightened up. "My name's Kovu." he announced. 

"Kion," Kion replied, stiffening when his sister,  apparently done teasing the crocs, suddenly slid herself into the conversation, all her focus on Kovu. 

"I'm Kiara," she purred, slithering closer to him than she really needed to, obviously trying to mimick the look and voice their mother adopted with Simba, for...whatever reason. Kion huffed in irritation, and had to smother a smile when Kovu scrambled back from her. Kiara's grin faded, but only for a moment.

"Are you really a prince?" Kovu asked tentatively, still gazing at Kion. Kion warmed and rolled his shoulders in a shrug. 

"Yeah-"

"Yup! And I'm a princess." Kiara exclaimed, bouncing. Kovu frowned thoughtfully.

"My mom says I'm a prince, too..." he muttered. 

Kion couldn't help it- he turned up his nose at that. An Outsider, a prince? "Prince of what? The Outlands watering hole?"

Kovu's frown deepened. "No."

"Whatever," Kiara laughed, rolling her eyes. She shot a mischievous glance at her brother, swiftly jumping at Kovu and smacking him on the leg. "Tag! You're it!"

Kion almost wasn't surprised when Kovu didn't chase her and just stood there, staring at her like she'd lost her mind. 

"Tag, you're it, you're it! Come on!" She hit him again and again, but Kovu didn't move, clearly confused. 

"Hey, what's...what's wrong with you?" Kiara said finally, pouting. "What's the matter, don't you know how to play? We run, you tag? Get it?"

"He doesn't know that game, dummy," Kion snapped, budging her out of the way once more. "Stop being such a girl."

"I bet I won't be a girl when I knock you on your back!" The second she crouched down to pounce, Kion saw Kovu's eyes brighten in recognition and relief. He copied her stance and hissed playfully at her....

And the game ended before it even began. Kion's ears rang and ached even after his father's thunderous roar stopped echoing over the plains, sending Kovu tumbling back, nearly white with fear. 

"Daddy!"

Kiara's yelp was drowned out by another roar, this one from behind them. Kion watched as a lioness slunk out of the tall, yellow grass and strode into the clearing- but she was unlike any lioness he had ever seen. Her ears were mangled and chewed, with long ropy scars trailing down her sides and back. She was thin and wiry, and she radiated anger like a hot sun, glowering at his father with all the venom of a viper.

Deep down in his gut, he knew who she was, but Kovu's terrified whisper of "Mother" told him he was dead right.

The grass rustled on either side of Simba, parting to reveal Nala, Zazu, and his uncles. One look at his parent's faces, and Kion knew he was in serious trouble. 

He'd never seen his father look so... So...

 "Zira."

Disgusted. Furious.

"Simba..." She dragged the name out like a snake's hiss.

"Zira..." There was pain and wariness in his mother's voice.

"Nala."

"Timon, Puumba! Great! Now that we all know each other...."

Kion gulped thickly and watched the following exchange like a game of dung beetle ball, huddled next to his sister and struggling to understand what was happening. 

"These lands belong to SCAR!"

 Kion froze, breath catching in his throat. Scar... Timon had mentioned...-

"GET OUT!"

In response to Simba's bellow, Zira drew herself up and smirked. "Oh? But Simba, we were just catching up. Haven't you met my son-"

Kion's eyes darted to the cub cowering behind Zira's forelegs, who paled when his name was mentioned. He couldn't tell who Kovu was more afraid of- Simba, or his own mother.

"-Kovu? He was hand chosen by Scar to follow in his pawprints... And become  _King."_

Uncle Timon laughed and jeered at Kovu immediately, but for a second, when those green eyes fixed on the meerkat, Kion saw a flash of anger illuminate them that made his stomach clench nervously.

King? How could Kovu be king, if...?

"You know the penalty for returning to the Pridelands!"

"But the child does not!" Zira countered sharply. She almost looked afraid, before she covered it smoothly. "However... If you, truly need your pound of flesh..."

Kovu whimpered as he was unceremoniously pushed towards Simba's feet, the fur beneath his eyes matted with tears. It was so different from his swaggering before that Kion would have laughed, if he wasn't so confused.

"Mom," Kiara breathed, beside him. "Mom, what's happening? Why-?"

 _"Hush."_  Nala quieted her, frowning hard at their father.

Kion's guts curdled at the way Simba was staring at the darker cub, so unlike the way he looked at the others in his own pride, at Kion and Kiara. There was no warmth, no softness. 

He looked at Kovu like he was a threat to be destroyed. 

Eventually, Simba turned away from the half faint cub, shaking his head wearily. "Take him and get out," he demanded. "We're finished here."

Zira's smile grew and hardened into one of triumph. Kion saw himself and Kiara reflected in every one of her glistening fangs as she grinned down at them, chuckling darkly. "Oh, no, Simba. We have barely begun."

With that, she turned and snatched up her son. As his father gripped the scruff at the back of his neck, and Nala collected Kiara, Kion winced at the sight of Zira's teeth digging harshly into Kovu's underbelly. 

"Bye..." Kiara whispered sadly. Kovu's reply was barely a breath.

"B-bye..."

* * *

The trek back to Pride Rock was deafeningly silent. Neither Kion nor Kiara were brave enough to say a word, and they didn't have to. As soon as they returned, Simba cut into them with a lecture unlike any they'd ever had, disappointment layered heavy in his stern, angry tone. 

Kion sank deeper and deeper with every word until his chin touched the ground, squirming and burning with shame. It went on and on and on, to the point where rivulets of tears were streaming down Kiara's cheeks, until Nala suddenly stepped forward from her silent position behind them and in between Simba's tirade. 

"Tell them." she demanded quietly, stopping Simba cold in the middle of a sentence. 

"W-what?" Simba stuttered. "You can't be- no. They're not ready."

"They're old enough now, Simba." Nala continued calmly. "They'll understand. They NEED to understand. What if it hadn't been Kovu? What if it had been the oldest one, or Zira herself?" She shuddered delicately, but when she opened her eyes, they were firm. "Tell them. I won't lose them to this. Not again."

Simba gaped, but Nala silently refused. After a short one sided argument, their father guttered out a giant sigh and turned his attention back to his cubs.

"Fine." The weight of the world seemed to have settled on Simba's shoulders, and his brown eyes were dim and tired. "Kion..." Kion tensed, but all Simba did was lower himself slowly down onto the ground. It almost looked as though he was about to tell them another bedtime tale.

"You know your favourite story? About me and your mother and uncles saving the Pridelands?"

Kion nodded slowly. "You never told us why. You said there were hyenas, but..."

Simba closed his eyes briefly. "There were. But there wasn't just hyenas. They had a leader." He shuffled his claws. "I'm sure you've heard the name Scar?"

Kiara looked puzzled, but Kion dipped his chin. "Yeah. Uncle Timon said it a while ago."

"He was my uncle, my real uncle, and your great uncle." Simba explained. "Mufasa, your grandfather, was his brother."

"Was Scar really his name?" Kiara asked. Nala shook her head. "No. His name was Taka."

_I do believe old Taka was the last of the worst..._

"They called him that because of a scar he got saving my father's life." Simba continued. A thundercloud passed over his face. "Scar was...angry, at my father. For a very long time. He wanted to be king. And he was willing to destroy everyone and everything in his path to do that, including his own family."

"Destroy?" Kiara squeaked.

"He killed your grandfather." Simba said bluntly. "He tried to kill me. He brought the hyenas to Pride Rock so he could take over. Your mother," he said, with a note of fondness and a small smile at Nala, "knocked some sense into me and brought me back from where I'd been living- hiding, really, with uncle Timon and Uncle Puumba."

Kion wrinkled his nose, still confused. "But dad, that was ages ago. What does that have to do with today?" 

At that point, their mother took over the story, sitting down next to their father. "Most of the lionesses were against Scar's rule." Nala started. "But some supported him. They thought that Scar was the rightful heir to the throne, regardless of how horribly he treated us. Zira was one of them. She defended Scar even after he was killed, and tried to rebel against your father." Nala exhaled softly. "She didn't succeed, but when she did something...awful..." Her claws scraped loudly against the stone when she flexed them. "Zira was exiled from the Pridelands, along with her followers. They became Outsiders, and they hate everyone and everything that lives in the Pridelands."

That explained the bitterness from Kovu, in the beginning. But even still.

"Kovu's not like her," Kiara insisted. "He's just a cub, like us." 

"Kiara, honey," Nala said gently. "Kovu is Zira's son...and Scar's."

Kion felt his blood run cold at the expression on Simba's face. "Oh," he breathed. 

"Scar had a darkness inside him that he couldn't escape." Simba rumbled. "Sometimes, that darkness can be passed on. Zira means for Kovu to replace me as king of the Pridelands."

Kion was silent as he digested it all. He still sensed a hole, as if he wasn't being told everything.

"That's why you have to stay away from the Outlands." Simba concluded. "Those lions are not like us. Zira will stop at nothing to avenge Scar and hurt me, and she'll do it by using you."

The sun had started to set by the time the grim story concluded. Simba hugged both Kion and Kiara and watched them as Nala led them both to bed. Kion glanced behind one time and saw his father outlined in the bloody light painting the Outlands sky and beyond.

He didn't sleep at all, that night. He saw Kovu's face in his dreams, wet with tears while Zira's wicked teeth closed down harder and harder around him, squeezing and squeezing until his cries turned into horrible roars that, underneath, he could hear the screams of his mother and sister. His father was nowhere to be found.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! Just super duper busy! 
> 
> Translation(s) at the end, only one word for now.

As the weeks passed, and the issue of Kovu refused to leave him alone, Kion developed a plan.

It was so easy, he almost laughed at himself for not thinking of it earlier. If Simba and Nala were so worried about Kovu because of Zira, and because he was an Outsider, then all he had to do was convince Kovu to come live in the Pridelands with them. Then he'd be away from his horrible mother, and he'd see that the Pridelands were a great place to be, much better than the Outlands, and that there was no reason to destroy them. 

He wiggled out from under his mother early one morning when the air was still chilly, careful not to wake her or Kiara, and stumbled  sleepily out to where he knew his father was already up and surveying the grasslands.

"Kion?" Simba said, puzzled when he caught sight of his dew-damp son scampering toward him. "What in the world are you doing up?"

Kion looked him straight in the eye and hid a shiver under his fur. He hated lying, especially to his father. "I wanna go see Rafiki at the tree, dad. He promised us a new story last time he visited."

Simba's red brows furrowed, and Kion quickly adopted his most innocent face. "At this time of morning? At least wait until your sister is up, and I can spare a hunter to take you."

Kion fixed his muzzle into a pleading pout. Kiara would ruin everything, and he'd never be allowed within fifty feet of the border with an escort, let alone be able to find and talk to Kovu. "But dad, that'll take forever. And I want the story to be a surprise for later." He jerked his chin out over the horizon, where the hazy outline of Rafiki's tree was just visible against the purple sky. "It's just down there. I'm big enough. I won't get lost, and I'll come right back, I promise."

Simba was still frowning, but his gaze softened slightly and he heaved a sigh. "You'll stay in the Pridelands?" he asked, and Kion nodded frantically, smelling a 'yes' inbound. 

Simba huffed out a resigned laugh and shooed him down the ledge. "Go. Be quick, and don't wander."

Kion beamed at him and darted away without a seconds pause, scattering crickets and birds as he did so. When he was sure that the long grass concealed him completely and that he was out of sight, he veered away from the direction of the Tree of Life and headed straight for the Outlands.

* * *

Without Kiara getting distracted at every little thing, it took Kion almost no time at all to reach the border. Though he'd never admit it, he looked over his shoulder every few feet and jumped at the smallest sounds, convinced that his father, Zazu or -Kings forbid, Zira again- would find him, but they never did. 

Eventually, the lush grass gave way to scrubby thorn bushes and gaunt, dry trees, and the ground took on a parched, barren feel beneath his paws, one that matched the dry, desolate air that grated over his pelt and lungs with every inhale. The more he saw of the place Kovu called home, the more Kion was sure that the other cub would want to leave with him.

He was lost in the fantasy of having a new playmate that wasn't his girly sister when the sound of raised voices shook him out of his wandering daydreams. Fear shot through Kion like a snake bite, and he dove behind the nearest boulder just as the words reached him.

"-run off again, I'll skin you like a hare."

"Then mother will skin  _you,_ Nuka."

Kion's eyes widened- he didn't know the first voice, but he recognized Kovu's reply. Slowly, remembering what his father had said about staying downwind when being sneaky, Kion poked his head over the rock that hid him and peered at the two lions across the clearing from him. There was a dark, sickly looking male he didn't recognize, and cowering under his toothy sneer was the small shape of Kovu.

The older male, who had to be Nuka, slapped a bony paw down on Kovu's tail, snickering when he yelped in pain. "Watch your mouth, roach. Better yet, watch  _yourself._ I'll squish you like the bug you are, and mother won't be any the wiser." He leaned in and bared his teeth in a snarl, looking hysterical with his scraggly mane and beady eyes. "You think you're special because mother says so? Carrion is carrion, little bro. I'll make you disappear, right here, right now, tell mother and Vitani you ran away, and let the vultures take care of the rest."

Kion, shocked and queasy, watched Nuka roughly bat Kovu to the side and stalk away, leaving him trembling in his wake. A single, shining tear made its way to the end of Kovu's whiskers and dropped into the sand with a plop.

Kion had seen enough. He gulped at the air, making sure Nuka was really gone, then plucked up his courage, took a deep breath, and darted out from behind his hiding place.

"Kovu!"

The other cub jumped a foot in the air at his sudden appearance, bristling and unsheathing his claws before stiffening in recognition. "K-Kion?" he squeaked in disbelief. "W-what are you doing here?" He looked even worse than the last time they'd seen each other, skinnier and bedraggled. One of his eyes was black and puffy, nearly swollen closed, and he was holding a back paw a few inches up off the ground.

Kion ignored his question in favor of asking his own. "Who was that?" he demanded, jerking his chin in the direction Nuka had gone. 

Kovu seemed to shrink into himself. "No one," he mumbled, turning his gaze away and hunching his shoulders. 

"He called you 'little bro'," Kion shivered. He couldn't ever imagine talking to Kiara like that.

That only seemed to irritate the other cub. "So?" he snapped, muzzle reddening with shame. "What does it matter to you, anyways? Why are you even here?"

Kion flushed, but straightened his back and lifted his chin. "To take you back with me."

"Back to where?" Kovu asked, squinting incredulously. "The Pridelands?"

Kion nodded frantically and smiled, happy that he'd caught on. "Yeah! You can come live with me and Kiara. It's really nice, we have tons of water and antelope to chase, and places to explore. You don't have to worry about your mom or Nuka anymore, either, and..."

The more he talked, the squintier Kovu's eyes grew, and the tenser the muscles in his legs became. His irises slid to the side, and the corners of his lips pulled down. "You should go home." he said, when Kion paused to take a breath. 

Kion stared at him, jaw on his feet and utterly confused. He'd expected Kovu to jump at the chance to leave the Outlands, and stop being an Outsider. "B-but...aren't you coming with me?"

Kovu finally looked up at him, and the cold suspicion and anger lighting up his green eyes made the hope in Kion's chest shrivel. "Why? So they can kill me like they killed my father?" he growled.

Kion jumped back a step, stunned. "W-what?! No, that's not-"

"Mother told me everything," Kovu sneered. "She said Simba murdered Scar in cold blood, and that he wants me dead, too. She said he has a _mganga_ baboon that makes it so it never rains here, and we never have enough food."

Kion felt his own anger bubbling to the surface, heating him under his fur. "She's a _liar,_ " he said, loudly, forgetting to keep his voice down. "Father said Scar was a monster. And Rafiki is not a _mganga!_ "

"Why should I believe you?" Kovu hissed. "You're a _Pridelander_. That makes _you_ the liar." He stepped back, scowling fiercely. "You got me in trouble. You don't care about me, or anyone else. You don't belong here. Go away, and don't come back!"

With that last venemous yell, Kovu turned tail and ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Kion wounded, shaking, and bewildered in his wake, sucking back enraged tears. 

_Dad was right..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mganga: Shaman
> 
> Next comes the juvenile stage, Lion Guard, and Rafiki. Other things too, depending on how long it gets.


End file.
